Hiroo Onoda surrendered in the Philippines in 1974, nearly 29 years after Japan’s 1945 surrender. He had continued guerrilla activities on Lubang Island because he believed wartime orders required him to hold out and distrusted reports that the war had ended.
Onoda was a second lieutenant in Japanese Army intelligence and had been sent to Lubang in December 1944. His commanding officer, Major Yoshimi Taniguchi, finally traveled to the island and formally relieved him of duty on March 9, 1974.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos granted Onoda a pardon for the deaths and damage associated with his postwar activities. Onoda returned to Japan and later moved to Brazil, where he became involved in ranching.
Shoichi Yokoi, another Japanese holdout, had been found in Guam in 1972. Onoda is therefore famous for the later date and the formal in-person order that ended his mission.